However, you will need to invest in an AlertMe Energy smart meter which will set you back £69 and £3 a month thereafter. But you'll soon make that back in the savings you make, with household energy bills reduced by up to 10 per cent.

Google's Jens Redmer, director for business development, says of the service: "In the future, one new feature could be friendly competition – why can't I challenge my friends to say I'll save 10% over a year, and then trigger alerts when they're falling behind, so I could ping them to encourage them?"